This past January, N3TWORK Inc. released a new version of Tetris for mobile, and it was well-received, thanks to competent monetization, smooth controls, and a few welcome skins. Well, as of today, Tetris has received a monumental update. First and foremost, there's a new competitive tournament mode called Tetris Primetime, which works a lot like HQ Trivia, in that you can actually win money by playing in this nightly live tournament. But that's not all, because two more modes are included in today's update, Tetris Together (a family mode) and Tetris Royale (a battle royale mode similar to Tetris 99). Best of all, today's update is totally free to explore, though it would appear all in-app purchases are currently gone, so if you previously paid for an ad-free experience, it would appear this purchase no longer works.

If you check out the trailer above, you'll be greeted by Millen Baird, the host for Tetris Primetime, a nightly game show where you can compete against the entire globe to win real money. Keep in mind, this game show is only available in select regions, and so only those that live in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, South Africa, Russia, Chile, Australia, and New Zealand can participate. Millen goes on to explain all of the new content that landed in Tetris today, such as Tetris Royale, a battle royale mode where you'll compete against 100 players to see who will be the last man standing, and Tetris Together, an online mode where you can play against friends and family with voice chat. As expected, Tetris Marathon is a fourth mode that's essentially the base game that was already included in the app before today's update, where you can play solo.

Now, after looking at the title's Play Store reviews, it would appear that the game's in-app purchases have all but disappeared with today's update (and I've looked, I can't find them). You see, there used to be a way to pay to remove advertisements, but now that option is gone, and even if you previously paid to remove ads, ads are indeed displayed in the game for everyone. Hopefully, the disappearance of people's purchases is simply a bug that will be fixed shortly, but if not, then that's a smarmy move on N3TWORK Inc's part.

So there you have it. Tetris on mobile just received a huge update that includes a new nightly game show competition where you can win cash, plus an online competitive mode for friends and family, not to mention a battle royale mode similar to Tetris 99 on the Nintendo Switch. It's definitely disheartening to see that users' previous purchases are no longer being respected, but I suppose it was only a matter of time before a breezy and fun release that offered a premium purchase would change into something more nefarious. After all, I'm sure N3TWORK Inc. didn't purchase the Tetris license to eke out a few bucks through skins, and so, just like everything else on mobile, Tetris is once again a property to take advantage of, just like it was when EA was the license holder on mobile.

Tetris® Developer: PLAYSTUDIOS INC
Price: Free
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